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Leona
Build Guide by OhHellNoo

This build has been archived and is for historical display only.

PLEASE NOTE: This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page.

Utility:
21

Introduction

Creditz to Natuhlee for the awesome banner and chapter dividers and for my stylish signature

Hi! I'm OhHellNoo (yes that's my actual name for League of Legends.) I recently joined MOBAFire and decide to do a guide on one of my favorite champions Leona. Be warned the guide may be a tiny bit REALLY long. Not a lot of words to say for myself and for Leona, (plus most likley you skipped the intro) but I think these pics will get the idea cross:

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Leona's Lore

Actual Lore

“The sun's rays reach all of Runeterra, so too must the image of its champion.”
―Leona

On the upper slopes of Mount Targon, the warriors of Rakkor live and breathe only for war. However, Targon's peak is reserved for a special group of Rakkor who answer to a "higher" calling. Members of this group, called the Solari, retire their mantles of war, choosing instead to devote their lives to reverence of the sun. According to legend, the Solari were formed by a warrior who could call the raw might of the sun down upon his enemies in combat. He claimed Mount Targon's summit, the point on Valoran closest to the sun, for his solar devotion, a tradition which generations of Solari have preserved to this day. Though they maintain their reverence, no other warrior possessed the gifts of the founder – until Leona. Leona’s parents were traditional Rakkor, both bred for the heat of battle. To them, Leona was a problem child. She was capable of fighting as fiercely as any other – including her childhood friend, Pantheon – but she did not share their zeal for killing. She believed that the true worth of a soldier lay in her ability to defend and protect. When it came time for her Rite of Kor, a ceremony in which two Rakkor teens battle to the death for the right to bear a relic-weapon, Leona refused to fight. For this, the Rakkor leaders ordered her execution, but when they tried to strike the fatal blow, sunlight burst forth, bathing Mount Targon in light. As it faded, Leona stood unharmed and her executioners lay unconscious around her. The Solari immediately claimed Leona, demanding that her sentence be repealed. She donned the golden armor of the Solari and they bestowed upon her the sword and shield passed down from the ancient sun-warrior of legend. The Solari helped Leona focus her abilities, and when she was ready she left to join the League of Legends.

My re-wording of her lore... you should probably skip this.

There were these sun people, you see, that were all war-like and were devoted to the sun. They were called the Solari, and the Solari believed the founder has magical sun powers that he could use to kill people in battle (for some reason I find this man looking like Taric with Super Saiyan hair.) The Solari couldn't find anyone with similar powers until they found Leona. This is where stuff gets interesting. Leona's parents are your everyday Rakkor, which is war-like Spartan people. However, they were like " Leona stronk and everything. She fight people a lot, even her childhood friend Pantheon (which sort of explains the Leona x Pantheon fanart), but she don't want to kill people." Then Leona be like "I protect people, not kill people." Then her Rite of Kor came up, which is a combination of a sweet-16 and gladiator showdown, but she refused to participate in it. Rakkor leaders were like "Dis little girl here ain't gonna fight, so we gonna kill her." Starting to think Riot encourages the death of little kids. *coughcough Annie. Then some magical sunlight saved her from the executioners, and Leona was unharmed. Seems legit. The Solari claimed her and repealed her execution... I honestly don't know why her parents didn't stop them from abduction their child. The Solari gave her that shield, armor, and sword she always have and helped her focus her abilites (whatever that means.) Eventually, like every other champion, she joins the League of Legends. Then eventually Diana and Pantheon stalk her there cause why not.

All of Leona's ability deal magic damage, expect her auto attacks of course. These babies give you a bit more of a punch during early game engagements. Grab these if you want to have a strong, aggressive early game.

If you feel like going old school S3 way, or if you want to rush to your core ASAP, you can grab these, but they seem a bit obsolete in comparison to Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed in mid-late game.

The addition health early game gives you a bit of tankiness early game to play aggressive, but 78 health from mid-late game isn't much. Just sayin'.

Masteries

Recommended Masteries

Masteries

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Pretty much a tradition 0/9/21 mastery tree. Grab Block negate AA some damage from the enemy AD Carry and support. Recovery is an option if you want more sustain for early game, but Enchanted Armor is more beneficial for mid and late game. Grab Unyielding to negate more AA, and Veteran Scars for some early game tankiness. Last but not least, grab Juggernaut for more max health.

Still, if I had 5% CDR from IRL Intelligence , I don't have to wait for long to eat freshly bake cookies...

Alternative Masteries

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This mastery leans more into tankyness instead of utility. Instead of having a bit more CDR and roaming ability, you get some Armor and Magic Resist for early/mid game. Even though Leona is tanky enough with Eclipse, she still benefits from grabbing Armor and Magic Resist since Eclipse grants addition 20% of your Armor and Magic resist. Reinforced Armor and Evasive aren't bad masteries, but I rather take Reinforced Armor , knowing that taking critical hits can hurt. Consider using these masteries if you're laning against potent enemy champions, but keep in mind, you cannot roam as well as the first set of masteries.

Alternative Masteries...#2

Masteries

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This is the MOST offensive/aggressive mastery you can go (I'm pretty sure you caught on to that since you see the 5 points in offense.) The damage boost from Expose Weakness gives you a bit more of a punch during engagements. Not to mention you already have 10% CDR in the beginning of them game. You can easily reach 40% just by buying Locket of the Iron Solari and Talisman of Ascension (core items). Consider using this mastery if you partner is some one like Draven who can do a lot of damage with a few kills. Exploit Expose Weakness to do as much damage as possible during engagements while the early game 10% CDR allows you to play aggressive by starting fights as often as possible.

Summoner Spells

Flash is your "get out of jail" card, and it has some chasing potential. You never know when you need that extra distance just to land your Zenith Blade.

Exhaust is everything a support needs! Exhaust gives you some extra CC to chase down, thus letting your teammates take the kill AND anyone affected by Exhaust deal less damage. Just remember, don't stack Exhaust with your other CC abilities!

Leona doesn't have a lot of mana issues, but unless you somehow make an attempt to engage and miss every single Zenith Blade, you shouldn't be out of mana and probably won't even need Clarity.

If you die, you die, so probably don't take Revive. Unless your summoner level isn't high enough to get any other spell, probably avoid this.

Keep in mind your a tank, so CC won't be the worst thing you will experience, so no use for Cleanse. If you feel CC is a really big burden for you, you can probably grab a pair of Mercury's Treads or maybe a Banshee's Veil, but otherwise Exhaust is more viable 9/10 times than Cleanse.

Unless you're planning to make some epic plays like "teleporting to the enemy nexus and then juking people with Zenith Blade", don't take Teleport.

You are a support, so I wouldn't get Smite if I were you. If you are, just call yourself Phreak, go to the jungle, build Trinity Force. Then make an excuse of how Morgana's black shield didn't let you secure the kill.

Being a tank, you can survive loads of damage, so you wouldn't need Barrier.

Unless you jungler plans to get this, grab a Locket of the Iron Solari. The active going to help your team survive in engagements, plus the 20 Magic Resist Aura is not bad either.

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The actives on these are going to be beneficial for engaging/disengaging and teamfights in general. The CDR each of them give is pretty nice as well.

Boots

Since Leona has an extremely low base speed, grab these ASAP so you can get back to you team, roam, ward, etc.

If any AA champions such as Tryndamere or Aatrox get out of controll (by out of control, I mean REALLY fed), consider grabing these.

If the enemy AP Carry gets out of control, grab these.

Building Armor

This is my far the BEST Armor item you can get. You get loads of Armor and Health. The active gives some nice CC, which you can activate when engaging in teamfights so you can land your Solar Flare easier or you it to chase down fleeing enemies, and the passive is pretty nice as well since you can buffer enemy damage (if they target you first). 9 out of 10 times you are going to grab this.

Even though you have Eclipse to do some AoE damage, you can grab this if your team needs some more AoE damage.

I'm not the biggest fan of the 400 mana, but the Armor is really nice, and the aura buffers the enemy team's damage. Similar to Ninja Tabi, grab this if AA champions get out of controll.

This is the BEST Magic Resist item you can get. 20% CDR? 400 Health? 55 Magic Resist? 20% increased healing? Yes, yes, yes, and maybe. Sadly Leona has no healing spells. If one of your teammates have any healing abilites, that would help, but its better to save it for their carries. Anyway, 9 out of 10 times you are going to grab this.

If the enemy team has some form of CC that can get your carries killed such as Ahri's Charm, grab this (and remember to use it!) The mana regen isn't bad either, so you can spam your abilities just to push a lane.

The passive on Wit's End is AMAZING... if your team can focus. With max stacks you can get 50 Magic Resist while decreasing your target's Magic Resist. Pretty nice! If one of the enemy carries build some Magic Resist, grab this and auto attack him/her during teamfights.

If multiple people on the other team build Magic Resist, grab this instead of Wit's End. The Magic Resist on it is not bad, and all of Leona's abilities do scale from AP.

- On Summoner's Rift, assuming Ancient Coin's user is within range of all minion deaths in a lane, it provides 4.2 gold per 10 seconds before the 35-minute mark. After 35 minutes, Ancient Coin provides 4.4 gold per 10.

- On Summoner's Rift, assuming Nomad's Medallion's user is within range of all minion deaths in a lane, it provides 10.4 gold per 10 seconds before the 35-minute mark. After 35 minutes, it provides 10.9 gold per 10. -League of Legends Wikia.

- The speed boost on Talisman of Ascension will be beneficial for the whole team when initiating or disengaging.

- On Summoner's Rift, assuming Relic Shield's user kills the most valuable minions available, it provides 4.4 gold per 10 seconds to the user and 5.3 gold per 10 to the lane partner before the 35-minute mark. After 35 minutes, it provides 5.5 gold per 10 to the user and 6.4 gold per 10 to the lane partner.

- On Summoner's Rift, assuming Targon's Brace's user kills the most valuable minions available, it provides 8.9 gold per 10 seconds to the user and 12.2 gold per 10 to the lane partner before the 35-minute mark. After 35 minutes, it provides 11.1 gold per 10 to the user and 14.4 gold per 10 to the lane partner. -League of Legends Wikia... again.

- You don't get as much gold, but your AD Carry gets some gold and sustain... IF and ONLY IF you and your AD Carry can stay in lane forever. If your against some heavy poke champions such as Nidalee, you won't get your core items as fast as going Talisman of Ascension.

- The active on Face of the Mountain should be use when your below 50% your health to make the shield useful.

This is Leona's easiest skill to land, so you can easily disengage with it or try to catch someone out of position. Either way, this skill is pretty amazing and easy to use, but use it wisely! At times it's best to save it for champions with channel abilities such as Katarina 's Death Lotus or Miss Fortune's Bullet Time. Activating Shield of Daybreak resets your attack animation, so try to use this after landing an AA.

Eclipse gives Leona a lot of armor and MR, and gives more armor and MR when she keeps builing armor and MR. It's the gift that keeps on giving! With the base damage from Eclipse and the damage your AD Carry can proc thanks to your Sunlight passive, Leona can probably take a small piece of hp off anyone early game. Keep in mind that you have to wait 3 seconds to actually deal the damage, so activate this before you grab someone with Zenith Blade.

E Zenith Blade-Leona projects a solar image of her sword, which deals 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+40% of ability power) magic damage to all enemies in a line. When the image fades, the last enemy champion struck will be immobilized for 0.5 seconds and Leona will dash to them.

Zenith Blade is the knife of Leona's bread and butter. You need to use something to spread butter on bread, right?

Keep in mind, this is a skill shot, so if you're not good at them, you might be out of luck. Other than that, this skill is amazing for initiation as it is both a gap closer and a momentary snare. With this and Shield of Daybreak you have 1.75 seconds of someone not moving. It's not exactly like Thresh's Death Sentence, but Zenith Blade can probably make you slippery if you can manage to hook onto an enemy champion, stun him with Shield of Daybreak, and run. The best part is, IT CAN GO THROUGH MINIONS!

R Solar Flare-After a brief delay, Leona calls down a beam of solar energy dealing 150 / 250 / 350 (+80% of ability power) magic damage and slowing enemies by 80% for 1.5 seconds. Enemies in the center of the beam are stunned instead of slowed.

This is probably Leona's most difficult skill to learn because of 2 things: 1) Due to the brief delay, you have to know where your enemies are going. 2) The ideal goal with this ult is to stun as many champions as possible. The circle is fairly large, so it's easy to slow someone with it. However, stunning someone is the main challenge since the center is pretty small in comparison with the whole circle. Keep in mind that champions such as Vladimir with his Sanguine Pool, Vayne with her Tumble, Ezreal with her Arcane Shift, and Kassadin with his Riftwalk can probably avoid the center of the circle and maybe the whole circle. Even though the CD for this isn't too long, it's vital to NOT waste this before engagements. The range and damage is pretty decent as well, so you can probably secure a kill AFTER engagements and on low-health enemies.

By increasing Shield of Daybreak, its damage is increased and the CD on it is lowered, BUT leveling it increases its mana cost. By increasing Zenith Blade, its damage is increased and the CD is lowered as well, BUT no matter what level Zenith Blade is, using it will always cost 60 mana. Unfortunately, you don't get any more CC from maxing either of them.

You may be thinking "Hey, at max level Shield of Daybreak only cost 65 mana. Not too bad, right?"

Well, it's not terrible but let's look at some more features of each skill...

As you can see, the damage of Zenith Blade will always be greater than the damage of Shield of Daybreak. With Zenith Blade at max level (9 second CD) and Shield of Daybreak at level 1 (11 second CD), you have a 2 second difference between the 2 skills and therefore engage more often early/mid game, do a bit more damage, and not OOM as much. This sequence is better for mid game aggressiveness (if you're still laning against someone of course.)

You can max out Shield of Daybreak for some damage and more importantly for less CD, thus stunning more people in engagements, but you still cannot engage as often because of the time gap between Zenith Blade and Shield of Daybreak. If you are forced to play passive or can't manage to get a good engage (while laning against someone of course), this ability sequence is probably better. The lowered CD on Shield of Daybreak will help you stun more people once you get a gank (or maybe get ganked.) If you and your AD Carry want to start roaming or if the two of you are needed for skirmishes over dragon and turrets, go with this ability sequence as well.

Early Game

"Supports make plays by enabling their allies through buffs and heals, or by disrupting enemy lines through crowd control. From laning to late game teamfights, supports create advantages and opportunities for their teammates to capitalize on. A skilled support gives their team the edge it needs to claim victory, and can turn the tide of battle with just one well-timed play.

Supports will generally go bottom lane with an AD Carry and sit in the brush , aiding their laning partner when necessary, else-wise harassing the enemy lane."

-MOBAFire Wiki

"Tanks are durable, front-line champions that help lock down enemies and start fights. They're usually found leading the charge, choosing the right times and situations to initiate aggression. Many tanks can also protect their more fragile teammates by stunning or pushing around dangerous foes and limiting their damage potential."

-MOBAFire Wiki

So keep in mind what was stated up there throughout the whole game. Failing to do any of these things could cost you the game.

During the early game, set up a tent and camp the brush as much as possible to have some lane pressure. Unlike Thresh's Death Sentence or Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab, Zenith Blade can go through minions, so you're not restricted to engage because of minions. If you do camp bush, keep in mind that:
1. You're a sitting duck. You can probably get hit by Nidalee's spears and get whittled down or Blitzcrank can probably land his Rocket Grab (which may or may not work out.)
2. Most likely the enemy duo will know where you are in the brush, and would ward that brush. You can probably get rid of the ward with AA, Shield of Daybreak, AA or if you have a Sweeping Lens, kill the ward.
3. Unless they know you can't win any engagements/trade off, the enemy duo will try to avoid you. Not a bad thing, but your jungler can't gank if the minion wave ends up being pushed to their turret. Also if the lane is pushed too hard, that leaves you vulnerable to be ganked (then again you shoulda warded dragon so you wouldn't get caught. Just sayin'.)

Once you're level 3, you can play aggressive by engaging if there is an opportunity. Play aggressive, but DO NOT PLAY RECKLESS! You want to capitalize from advantages and opportunities, not feed because disadvantages. Because you want Eclipse to explode right after your AD Carry procs Sunlight from Zenith Blade, activate Eclipse about a second before you engage with Zenith Blade. Since Zenith Blade teleports Leona to the last hit champion, make sure you don't hook on to the support when you wanted to target the AD Carry. It's least likely to happen, but if you do make that mistake, it gives the AD Carry a bit of time to escape. Afterwards, land an AA, another AA with Shield of Daybreak, and keep engaging until they: 1) finally disengage, 2) manage to escape, 3) the enemy jungler shows up (unless you're confident that you can get a triple kill), or 4) if you and/or your AD Carry gets low (i.e. don't over commit.) If either the enemy AD Carry or Support dies, goes lower than you and your AD Carry, or goes so low they have to farm near turret or have to recall, it's pretty much a successful engagement.HOWEVER, if you or your AD Carry dies or goes low, you might want to rethink things through and wait for a better opportunity. Once you get Solar Flare, you can stun lock someone during an engagement, force an engagement by stunning both the AD Carry and support with Solar Flare, or secure a kill as either a low health support or AD Carry scurries to his/her turret.
Long story short, play aggressive and start engaging at level 3. If your AD Carry gets a few kills while the other AD Carry has little to none, you can probably engage more often and more importantly win your lane. Try not to let your AD Carry die or low enough they have to recall so you won't lose your turret. You become an extremely potent initiator and threat with Solar Flare as long as you can land on the right targets at the right time.

Few important things to keep in mind if you plan to engage:
1. LET YOUR AD CARRY AND JUNGLE KNOW! Number one thing about support: communication with the whole team can either make or break this game. Tell your jungler and AD Carry that when you ping, that's the go-to signal to engage.
2. IS THE ENEMY JUNGLER IN THE VICINITY? You should probably have vision of any possibly entrances to your lane 24/7. I can't remember how many times people get I got caught because of lack of vision. If you know you can't win this engagement due to the enemy jungler, back off and ping the **** out of your AD Carry until he backs off.
3. ANALYZE WHAT COULD HAPPEN AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU DO ENGAGE! This is where that "playing smart" prerequisite comes into play. If you're dumber than a brick and failing school, you probably shouldn't even be playing League. Go study or something. If you have all B's or something, you should know when to engage. If you're some crazy yet awesome combination of Albert Einstein, Sherlock Holmes, Phoenix Wright, and Professor Layton, you're a pretty smart cookie and probably have better things to do besides play League. If you don't know any of these people, Google them. Back to the point, if you know you can win an engage, you should probably engage and get your AD Carry as much gold as possible. As the thingy said, "supports create advantages and opportunities for their teammates to capitalize on." If you know you can't engage, then don't engage and wait for the right moment. You might be thinking, "But wait, when do I know I can engage?" Very good question. Think things through and analyze the current situation, know what to do during the engagement, and predict what happens after the engagement. Both you and your AD Carry should try to keep these things in mind:

1) How much damage can we do vs. how much damage can they do?
2) Any CC/Abilities should we be wary of?
3) How much health/mana do we have vs. how much health/mana do they have?
4) What Summoner Spells do we have up vs. What Summoner Spells do they have up.
5) If an engagement goes wrong, can we get back to our turret safe and sound?
6) Can we turret dive? Would it be even worth?
7) What do we do, and who do we focus/engage on?

Mid Game

What your team should do

If your team is behind, then all of you should (in most important to least):

1. Farm. If one of your lanes is really behind in CS or has no kills, now is his time to catch up. Keep in mind if one of your teammates freezes lane, he's still open to a gank and his laning opponent is free to take objectives, roam, etc.

2. Ward. Due to the changes of S4, everyone has to contribute to warding. If your team is behind, they cannot afford getting caught and losing more objectives.

3. Defend turrets. If you are losing, one of the worse things you can do is lose another turret. Losing one turret gives the other team some global gold and more control over the map.

4. Take objectives if possible. If you or your team knows you can grab at least one turret or maybe dragon, then take it, therefore allowing the enemy team to not have a stronger upper hand.

You would pretty much do the same things if you were winning, but in this order of significance:

1. Take objectives if possible. Again, taking one turret can increase your control over the map, while taking dragon can increase your team's lead.

2. Farm. More CS, the better.

3. Ward. You still don't want to get caught, and you especially don't want the other team sneak dragon right under your nose. As your team continues to push and grab turrets, start warding the enemy jungle, take buffs... basically capitalize as much as possible from taking a turret and have as much control over the map as you can.

4. Defend turrets. You don't want to throw now do you?

What you should do

If your AD Carry is farming/pushing, stay with him and protect him (and maybe get some gold with your Ancient Coin.) Only leave his side if you have to buy wards and core items. You can help him push by applying Sunlight with your Eclipse. But whatever you do, don't leave his side! If you do, he's going to be more vulnerable to getting picked off, and if he dies, chances are your team is going to lose some objectives. As a support, you should at least ward the lane your AD Carry is pushing and dragon as well. The rest of your team should ward their lane so they won't get caught. If your AD Carry has pushed his lane so hard that someone is forced to defend it, consider doing dragon or at least help your other lanes take down turrets as well. Remember to say when you took dragon and have your time ticks on. It's vital to know when the next dragon spawn will appear. Now and then you and your team may need to group (preferably mid) to defend or push. If you know you can win that skirmish, it's worth engaging and making a push. If not, DON'T. Keep in mind of your team or the enemy team's split pusher. If they have a split pusher, try not to waste too much time when trying to push/defend mid. BUT if your team has a split pusher, try to stall as long as you can (i.e. don't engage unless you can kill most of the enemy team. The split pusher should make a big enough of a punch while the enemy team respawns.) If anyone is M.I.A, ping so your split pusher can make a getaway.

Late Game

Dem late game objectives

During the late game, laning isn't as important anymore. A huge number of turrets should be destroyed (unless it's a one-sided affair.) Everybody should have their core items (and most likely Homeguard) and be ready to get into some team fights.
Try not to get caught while warding and clearing wards. If you get caught and die, you may have cost the game for your team or make things much more difficult. Because of the temporary 4v5 situation, the enemy team has a chance to grab objectives such as baron nashor, inhibitors, turrets, or even Nexus. Have your team escort you to ward baron nashor and/or dragon.

Inhibitor

Do I really need to make a sub-section about inhibitors? Just kill it and you can siege better with supper minions. Probably better getting inhibitor than baron nashor.

Once in the late game, it's vital to not lose baron nashor because of it's extremely powerful buff, exalted with baron nashor (now that I think about it, I don't see how someone finds you exalted after you killed them.) Always have a Stealth Ward in the baron nashor pit. If some of the enemy team's main champions are M.I.A, chances are they are going to do baron nashor. If you know you can win that engagement, then engage. It might be a good idea to wait for baron nashor to rough them up while your team pokes someone down, but if you're too late and they manage to take baron nashor, they're going to have an advantage over you.
If your team decides to go for baron nashor, you should make sure the pit isn't warded. Place some wards over the wall and in any near brushes. Last but not least, ask yourself these questions:
1) Is everyone on our team alive?
2) Is everyone on the other team alive?
3) Should we just push one lane or something instead of grabbing baron nashor?
4) Is this warded?
5) If the enemy team decides to invade us, do we stand a chance against them?
6) Does our jungler have Smite?

Teamfights

Before team fights, try to stay near your carries to peel for them if they get focused but at the same time prepare to take any possible body shots. It's better for your carries to stay healthy than yourself. Try not to clump together so you won't get hit by any skill shots with a large diameter such as Zyra's Stranglethorns or Sona's Crescendo.

The best way to engage if you need to protect your carries from dangerous threats. Save your Shield of Daybreak if the dangerous threats manage to break through the front lines (i.e. too close to your carries) and use Zenith Blade as a gap closer+snare if they have any built-in- Flash or gap closer of their own.

This is pretty much the best way to initiate IF your team can peel for your carriers and you want to:

You get it?

Support Matchups

Alistar, the Minotaur Big Talking Cow

Spoiler: Click to view

Alistar can screw you over during the laning phase with his Pulverize and Headbutt combo. Every time you would engage, he's going to use that combo to either push you away from his AD Carry or towards their tower. Keep in mind he has a bit of AoE damage with his Trample passive and some sustain with Triumphant Roar. In mid-late game, he is going to be REALLY difficult, if not impossible, to take down because he is extremely tanky and even tankier with Unbreakable Will. During team fights he's going to be a nuisance since he can push your carriers out of position with his Pulverize+ Headbutt combo. The best you can do is stun him and protect your AD Carry and mid-lane while the rest of the team focuses the enemy carries. This is going to be a really difficult matchup. DO NOT try to milk those!

Annie, the Dark Child Extremely Scary Girl

Spoiler: Click to view

Annie doesn't need to build a lot of AP to do damage. She can play either extremely passive making you regret engaging or extremely aggressive making you wish you didn't play support for this game. She's squishy without her Molten Shield and has no escape mechanism, so it might be easier to get a kill on her rather than the AD Carry during the laning phase. Just be extremely careful of her Pyromania (the white swirly thing that goes around her) and her Summon: Tibbers. Those two things can melt down your team down (no pun intended.) This matchup could go either well or not so well.

Blitzcrank, the Steam Golem Definately not Blitzcrank

Spoiler: Click to view

If Blitzcrank pulls you in with his Rocket Grab, he's already doing half of your job. Just Zenith Blade and Shield of Daybreak the enemy AD Carry and you are going to make him regret pulling you. Don't get too cocky now! If you or your AD Carry gets pulled and one of you dies, then this is going to be a difficult match. Since he doesn't have any form of disengage, it's not going to be difficult to engage, but be careful of the other team's damage output. This matchup should be fairly easier. Just avoid his Rocket Grab and you should be fine.

Fiddlesticks, the Harbringer of Doom Aww ****... 3 year 2.25 year fear

Spoiler: Click to view

You have to be extremely careful of Fiddlesticks's Dark Wind because it can do A LOT of damage if you stand near a minion or your AD Carry. His only CC , Terrify, can be used to either disengage from your Zenith Blade+ Shield of Daybreak combo OR it separates your AD Carry from you. He has some self-sustain with his Drain but he's fairly squishy. If he Drain on a minion, that could probably be a good time to catch him off guard. And remember: if you think he's not there, HE'S THERE! He probably hiding there... somewhere in the bush... just waiting for the right time to use Crowstorm. This matchup could go either way. Just play smart, and you can probably win your lane. If things go wrong, immediate play passive or get a gank from your jungler.

Janna, the Storm's Fury Flying Wind Lady.

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If Janna can land her Howling Gale, then start crying now. She can use it to interrupt your Zenith Blade mid-flight, and she can probably counter engage with Zephyr (that should show an ability... not a sword) and Eye Of The Storm. Worse of all is her Monsoon. If you engage, she can use this to push you away from her carry or towards her tower. In team fights, she can turn the tides with this skill as this can split your team up, peel everyone of her carries, and it gives a bit of a heal for her team. This is going to be an extremely difficult matchup. She will make you breathless!

Karma, the Enlightened One Magic Hands Lady.

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She has some poke, but her Inner Flame isn't a really big challenge to avoid. Still, you don't want to give her some free shots since it lowers her CD on Mantra, and if she gets you low enough, you probably cannot engage. Even though she's a bit squishy, has no hard CC, or escape mechanism, you should be careful of her Focused Resolve and Inspire. Karma can decide to counter engage anytime with Focused Resolve and eventually root if you can't break the tether in time. Inspire is a bit of a speed boost to engage or disengage, not to mention it can absorb a bit of you damage. This shouldn't be a difficult matchup, but you want to be cautious of her kit.

Leona, the Radiant Dawn the Exact Same Champion you're Playing.

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Okay seriously, it's just a matter of who is the better team and who is the better Leona player. Good luck mate!

Similar to support Annie, Lux can pack a punch, not to mention she has some pretty hard CC with Light Binding and Lucent Singularity. Her double shield, Prismatic Barrier (and her laugh) can be a bit annoying every now and then. Try not to get too close to your AD Carry during the laning phase because she can probably land an easy Light Binding+ Lucent Singularity+ Final Spark on the both of you. She can zone you pretty hard as well. The CD on her abilities are a bit long, so if she ever misses her Light Binding, that's a good opportunity to engage. As long as you can avoid her skill shots, you should be fine and able to play aggressive.

Morgana, the Fallen the Worst Baker

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Morgana's Black Shield is going to be REALLY annoying. It's going to negate all damage and all CC you do with your abilities, so you have no other choice but to play passive. Just stand behind your minions, hoping she won't get a Dark Binding+ Tormented Soil combo on you. If she ever uses Soul Shackles in a team fight, run to avoid getting stunned, but it's worth stunning her with Shield of Daybreak to save your team if you know her Black Shield is on CD. This is going to be either somewhat based on skills and your team, but if Morgana can protect her AD Carry well with her Black Shield, this is going to be a difficult matchup for Leona.

Most likely Nidalee is going to camp brush and try to get some free Javelin Toss shots on you, so ward the two bushes and stand behind your creep. With Primal Surge, she can heal between engages or use it as a Attack Speed steroid for her AD Carry. It's going to be difficult to camp bush since she might use her bushwack as mini-wards. She has a small gap close with Pounce, so it's better to engage and pin down on the AD Carry. With all of these abilities, she's bound to be out of mana eventually so use that as an advantage to engage. You need to be extremely careful mid-late game. Her spears are going to hurt a lot and probably take a big chunk of your hp. Other than that, she has no hard CC or any form of engaging. If you manage to dodge most of her spears, you should be alright, but you still don't want to get too cocky.

Sona, the Maven of Strings qweqweqwer.

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Sona has a bit of disengage with Song of Celerity and can heal between engages during the laning phase. You and your AD Carry (and you team in general during team fights) need to spread out to avoid some damage from her Hymn of Valor and ultimately Crescendo. If she ever comes up to you to poke you with Power Chord, that's the perfect opportunity to engage on her and get an easy kill. This is by far the easiest matchup.

Soraka, the Starchild the Managiver

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Soraka has no CC or disengage whatsoever and her only source of damage is Infuse and Starcall, and it doesn't deal that much early game. Careful though! You don't want to underestimate her Astral Blessing and Wish. Seriously, that's a lot of healing. And 50 armor for level 1 Astral Blessing? Yeesh. Not to fear! You should consider grabbing Ignite if you feel as though her healing can be a really big threat. Other than that, just play extremely aggressive early game and dominate bot lane. This matchup is easy mode.

Taric, the Gem Knightis Truely Outrageous

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Taric is an extremely aggressive support. He has a reliable stun with Dazzle (unless he stuns a minion), so he can easily disengage or engage, but Leona has a reliable stun with Shield of Daybreak to engage/disengage as well. Therefore it's going to be a bit difficult to play aggressive in the early game. You still want to be cautious of his AoE Shatter as well as it's powerful aura, not to mention he has fabulous burst with Gemcraft. He has a ton of sustain with Imbue, so it's going to be difficult to get him or your AD Carry low if you manage to barrage him with endless engages. Nonetheless, he's still more vulnerable to magic damage than attack damage. Neither supports have an upper hand, but the more fabulous team shall win. (Work as a team and you could win.)

Thresh, the Chain Warden the Wife Stealer

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Thresh is another aggressive support, but he doesn't have to immediately engage with Death Sentence unlike Leona's Zenith Blade. You should still ward bush and hide behind your creep so you won't get hooked. Even though he doesn't have a reliable stun, he still has high trading potential with the passive from Flay and the shield from Dark Passage. If he makes an attempt to save his AD Carry with Dark Passage all you have to do is stand on his lantern. Like literally! Standing on the lantern denies his allies to use it. If he manages to trap you and your AD Carry with The Box, either wait for it to go away, use Flash, or break on of the walls to let your AD Carry escape. You want to end the laning phase ASAP so he won't farm souls. If manages to collect a decent amount of them, he could be a bit tanky and his Flay will hurt. Similar to Taric, however, he's more vulnerable to magic damage than attack damage. Since neither Leona nor Thresh can't too play aggressive, this matchup could go either way.

Zilean, the Chronokeeper the Magical Time Man

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Because of Zilean's Time Bomb, you want to have some distance between you and your AD Carry and possibly your minions. He has a bit of a speed boost and CC with Time Warp and his Chronoshift can be game changing. Other than that, you should be able to play aggressive before he manages to whittle you down with Time Bomb. This matchup shouldn't be too difficult.

Zyra, the Rise of the Thorns Big Moving Cactus

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Zyra has tons of CC and disengage. She has a lot of harass potential with her long range auto attacks and plants. Be careful when trying to camp bush as she can use her Rampant Growth as mini-wards. You and your AD Carry should spread out so both of you won't get snared by Grasping Roots, but I can't say the same for Stranglethorns due to it's large range. Once Zyra dies, avoid her Rise of the Thorns by strafing left and right. Nonetheless, Zyra is very squishy and the CD on her abilities is fairly long. Avoid her plants, Grasping Roots and Stranglethorns and then use that opportunity to engage. As long as you do that, you should be able to do fine.

Playing with and against AD Carries

Both Leona and Ashe have a ton of CC and can literally pin down anyone in an engagement. Not to mention her Enchanted Crystal Arrow functions as another ability to engage alongside Leona's well... everything. Plus a well aimed Volley can help whittle down the enemy AD Carry and support to help you create a better engaging opportunity. The only problem is Ashe doesn't have excellent trading potential untill she buys Infinity Edge and Statikk Shiv. Just because of her low early game trading potential, Ashe is somewhat a viable partner with Leona.

If you ever try to invade, be careful of her 100% crit first hit. Because of Frost Shot, Ashe has excellent chase and kite potential. Try to stand behind minions to avoid giving her free hits with Volley. If she can, she might poke you down with Focused shots between minion kills so don't get too close to her. Because she's squishy and has no early game trading potential, play aggressive and know when to back off (ideally when she starts shooting Frost arrows at you.) This game might not be too difficult, but you still want to be wary of her kiting and chasing potential.

Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover the only champion with a British accent.

Laning against Caitlyn could be a bit annoying. She's going to use her Yordle Snap Traps to either zone or use them as mini-wards for bush. Unless you know she can't reach you before you're unsnared, don't step on them. If you do, she can get a few autoattacks on you and a free Piltover Peacemaker. She has a lot of poke with Piltover Peacemaker and Headshot+650 autoattack range. Hide behind minions so you won't take the full impact of Piltover Peacemaker or just learn to dodge it. As for Headshot, avoid her when she has that up. Also, zone her out of the brush since each autoattacks in the brush gives her 2 free stacks on Headshot. Caitlyn can use 90 Caliber Net to disengage, chase, or create some breathing room for herself, so it's going to be difficult to engage. Worse of all is her Ace in the Hole. Your team is going to need to learn how to take body shots. It might be difficult going against Caitlyn.

Because of Corki's Hextech Shrapnel Shells and Gatling Gun, he can probably deal a pretty big punch. Since he can deal true damage and melt down your armor, consider buying a Warmog's Armor eventually. Keep in mind while laning against him, his Valkyrie can be used to escape your Zenith Blade or Solar Flare, but it has a long CD time. He's going to run out of mana just trying to poke you unless he decides to build a Manamune. You can avoid Missile Barrage by hiding behind your creeps, but you're going to need to learn how to strafe (swerve up, down, left, right) to avoid Phosphorus Bomb. Depending on how good this Corki is, it might be small challenge or not too difficult. Even though Corki has an escape mechanism, he's squishy and can be bursted down.

Dravenis Draven has high damage potential with only a few items. His Spinning Axes provide him with a lot of poke and trading potential. Not to mention his Blood Rush gives him trading potential as well as some chasing potential. With Stand Aside and Whirling Death he has a bit of burst, which will go nice with Leona's Sunlight. This is going to be a pretty good duo due to it's high damage output and heavy CC.

It's going to be really difficult to engage on Ezreal because he can dodge it or blink away with Arcane Shift after getting hooked. If you really want to continue engage, follow up with Solar Flare. Don't let him get free shots with Mystic Shot and Essence Flux. Hide behind your minions to avoid Mystic Shot and strafe to avoid Essence Flux (even though it doesn't do a lot of damage later on.) If you can, listen for his yell (or whatever you want to call) when he cast Trueshot Barrage and avoid it by strafing left and right. Eventually he's going to be out of mana just by spamming Mystic Shot, so use that as an advantage to engage since he can't Arcane Shift away. Keep in mind that he's going to be at a huge disadvantage after the laning phase. Going against Ezreal as Leona might be challenging since you can't engage on him and his damage potential his pretty high. The team with the better "true display of skill" will win.

If possible, wait for True Grit to go down (i.e. don't hit him and don't let him hit anything) to engage. Be careful to not over commit as he can kite you with Smoke Screen+ Quickdraw and then burst you down with Buckshot+ Collateral Damage. Because of Graves short attack range (525), let your AD Carry get some free pokes on him if possibble. Without his Quickdraw, his attack speed is going to be extremely low. If possible, don't wait out the laning phase since Graves can fall off later on. Even though he doesn't have an extreme upper hand against Leona, you'd still want to be careful if you think about engaging.

This overly attactched, crazy *** bi- nice, normal girl who likes guns has... well (almost) great everything. Almost. Not a lot of people are into red eyes... and her other qualities. With Fishbones, the Rocket Launcher and Zap! , she has some strong poke and some nice auto attack range. With Pow-Pow, the Minigun she has an insane (no pun intended) steroid that can let her win trades while her Flame Chompers! (seriously why does all her abilities end with an excalmation mark) can work really well with your CC to lock someone down. A well-aim Super Mega Death Rocket! (again, another exclamation mark, girl just calm down) can secure some kills. With Get Excited! and your CC, let's just say she's going to get overly attatched to some lowly slow people. With her high early-game potential and your CC, this duo is going to Get Excited!

Wait for Jinx to switch to Fishbones, the Rocket Launcher so she won't have her speed steroid from Pow-Pow, the Minigun if possible before engaging. All of her abilities, especially Zap! and Fishbones, the Rocket Launcher, cost a lot of mana, so if she's out of mana, use that as an opportunity to engage. Hide behind minions so you won't get hurt from Zap!. If you see her use Fishbones, the Rocket Launcher, try to keep some distance away from everything so you won't give her free hits. Even though her only methods of escape are Get Excited!, Zap!, and Flame Chompers!, be careful you don't over commit. If you do, let's just say she gets over attatched for a reason. If she's about to take a tower down, just let it go. She's going to chase you down with Get Excited!. Last but not least, learn to avoid Super Mega Death Rocket! or just don't be near anyone if you plan to take a body shot. Still, she's pretty squishy and has no way to escape your CC, so this might not be too difficult, but you still don't want too be cocky.

Kog'maw, the Mouth of the Abyss Adorable creature thing with 4 eyes... I think

Again, Kog'Maw has weak early game and no escape mechanism besides Void Ooze. Don't let him get easy hits on you with Living Artillery. Exploit as much gold early game as you can by engaging hard on him, but don't get trolled by his Icathian Surprise! This should be easy. No real excuse if you lose this lane.

Lucian, the Purifier that Guy who Hates Thresh (if you thought I was going to say First Black Champion, you're wrong. Go sit in the corner and take a time-out.)

I mean... there was that song so why not? Maokai does best with supports with either hard CC or is really aggressive; fortunately Leona fullfill those requisites. He has his own follow up and CC with Arcane Smash+ Twisted Advance. His Sapling Toss is going to be nice as well since they function as a poke, a mini ward, and a bit of a kill securer. His natural tankiness and Vengeful Maelstrom are going to be useful in team fights, 1v1, etc. With your Sunlight, this tree is going to get pretty big and get fed.

It's a tree. Just burn it's *** with support Brand or Annie.
Keep in mind he's MELEE so if your AD Carry can poke him down and deny him CS, it should be alright. Try to keep your lane warded and don't get caught. Once he gets his Infinity Edge+ statik shiv, it's going to be a difficult lane for sure. Again, HE'S MELEE so kill him before he can kill your carries, and be careful over committing since his Vengeful Maelstrom will be game changing in teamfights. Try your best to shut him down early game by engaging on him hard. Don't drag out the early game; just take down their turret ASA.

Her Double Up can poke down enemy champions, making setting up a fight and winning it easier. Because of her ability to poke through minions and Leona's ability to engage EXTREMELY hard, there's is going to be a lot of pressure while laning against the two of them. Her Impure Shots provide her a steroid to help win trades and Make it Rain works somewhat well with your other CC abilities. Once the both of you hit level 6, then the two of you will Make it Rain some real pain. A well timed Solar Flare+ Bullet Time is going to melt away any squishy carries. With Leona hard CC and Miss Fortune's burst procing Sunlight, Miss Fortune is going to have a lot of booty gold for her core items.

Since her only CC/escape mechanism is Make it Rain (which isn't a real punch), Leona can engage on her hard. Be careful of Bullet Time since it does a ton of damage. If you can, stop her from channeling it with Shield of Daybreak or Solar Flare, and try to soak up that damage with your Locket of the Iron Solari. Also her passive Strut allows her to be a strong split pusher, so just scare her off if your team cannot afford to lose a tower. Otherwise, Miss Fortune better prepare her booty, because Leona's coming to steal it (if you thought booty meant something else besides treasure, take another time-out.)

Quinn's Harrier allows her to have a bit of burst damage early game, which goes nice with your hard CC and Sunlight. Her Vault is a nice way to follow up your engages and the blind Blinding Assault could turn the tides on early game engages. Last but not (maybe) least is her tag team. A good Quinn will utilize it the best of its abilities rather than just runnin and chasing. Otherwise Quinn's early game damage would go well with Leona's hard CC.

With Vault, Quinn can dodge your Zenith Blade or Solar Flare or immediately disengage. If you plan on engaging, make sure your AD Carry isn't marked with Harrier. If you can, body block Blinding Assault so your AD Carry won't be blinded. Once she's level 6, you need to CC lock her before she escapes with tag team. Still, Quinn may not do so well against Leona so you might win this, depending if Quinn can manage to escape all of your engages.

Depending on Sivir's skill, this might be really easy or really hard.. It really depends on if she's able to block Shield of Daybreak or solar flar with Spell Shield. If Sivir procs it too early when you try to CC lock her, you can wait for Eclipse to go off to deactivate it. If she manages to activate Spell Shield after Eclipse explodes, just wait 1.5 seconds for it to go off, then stun her with Shield of Daybreak. Try to stand behind minions so Boomerang Blade won't hurt so much, but if you see Ricochet actives, don't stand near your minions nor your team. Otherwise, she's extremely squishy and easily becomes out of mana unless her support is Soraka. Her only method of escape is On The Hunt (ironic because she's being hunted down.)

Because of Tristana's early game burst and Leona's hard CC, this duo will do well. She has a bit of poke with Explosive Shot, which is going to get them low enough to kill them when you engage. Rocket Jump doubles as a follow up to Leona's Zenith Blade and an escape tool (even though you end up left for dead. :P. Another reason why I don't like yordles.) Anyway, she will excell late game with her extended attack range and attack speed steroid from Draw a Bead and Rapid Fire (and maybe a lot of kills from early game.)

Both Thresh and Leona can play extremely aggresive early game, but might not have enough damage... Thresh has a lot of burst, especially with his passive from Flay and naturally becomes tanky with Damnation. This duo isn't too badm but once Thresh gets Statikk Shiv, things start to get more interesting; Thresh's burst and his own CC with Leona's aggressiveness and CC will be deadly.

Until Thresh grabs Statikk Shiv, he's going to have a tough time in lane. You can probably win every engage since he won't have enough souls to deal a punch with Flay, nor can he duel well with his low attack speed. Play aggressive and shut him down early game, but don't get too cocky because he's going to do a lot of damage late game once he gets some souls and kills.

His only method of escape is Ambush and venom cast. He has a short auto attack range, so your AD Carry can easily poke him down. Without Spray and Pray, he's not going to do too much damage in team fights. He's extremely squishy and can't do anything too amazing early game, so play aggressive and CC lock him.

If Varus can land some good Piercing Arrows (i.e. point blank range with 3 stacks of Blighted Quiver), he can have some major poke, giving you a comfortable engaging situation. At level 6, you can get an easy kill as he can follow up your CC combo with Chain of Corruption+ Hail of Arrows, but let him get his Living Vengeance passive up before you engage so he can get some more hits in. This duo will make "the guilty know agony" if you catch my drift.

Again, Vayne has weak early game, but Leona has strong, aggressive early game. Don't camp in the brush because she can land an easy Condemn and stun you for an easy kill. The best time to engage is to Zenith Blade her AFTER she uses Tumble to last hit a minion, but be careful if she peels herself with Condemn. Don't over commit because she can melt you down with Silver Bolts and outplay you with Final Hour This might be a bit tricky.

Summary

If you feel liked/enjoyed this guide, consider upvoting! If you don't agree with something or want to ask any questions, leave them in the "discussion" thingy; don't be afraid! If you want to me to make a "Hall of Fame", PM me some pics of your Leona games. Special thanks to Natuhlee for my banner and chapter dividers and jholjhol for a guide about coding and what not! Without it, this guide would look pretty ugly. Have fun playing League!

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!